Monthly Wolf Report - June 2022

This update provides an overview of gray wolf conservation and management activities in Washington during June 2022. 

Program updates and coordination 

• The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission made a decision to not adopt or amend rules as part of the Wolf Livestock Conflict Deterrence Rule making proposals at its special meeting July 8.
  
  The Commission voted to approve the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement Alternative Four, which was the ‘no action alternative’ and does not adopt or amend wolf livestock conflict rules. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) wolf-livestock conflict management and expectations for non-lethal and lethal measures will continue to operate under the guidance of the 2011 Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and the 2017 Wolf-Livestock Interaction Protocol.
  
  Information about and related documents for this rule making are available at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development/wolf-livestock-conflict-deterrence.

• The Wolf Advisory Group (WAG) held a meeting on June 22-23 in Moses Lake. Meeting notes and associated materials are available on the Wolf Advisory group page under the Meetings tab. During this meeting, researchers provided three presentations about wolf-ungulate interactions to WAG members and the public. The presentations were recorded and are available for viewing below: 

  • Some thoughts on the relationship between wolves and their prey (Dr. John Vucetich) 

  • Some insights from predator-prey research in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Dr. Arthur Middleton) 

  • Density-dependent changes in wolf predation within the complex system of northern Yellowstone (Dr. Matthew Metz) 

Outreach and education 

• WDFW staff gave a presentation on wolf biology/wolf conservation and management in Washington for the City of Seattle Lunch and Learn speaker series on June 2.
   
• WDFW staff gave a presentation on wolf biology/wolf conservation and management in Washington to WDFW retirees in Spokane on June 10.  

Current population status and proactive conflict mitigation 

The year-end minimum population count for 2021 was at least 206 known wolves in 33 known packs including at least 19 breeding pairs. Annual wolf population surveys are conducted in the winter because wolf populations experience the least amount of natural fluctuation during this time. Counting the population at the end of each year allows for comparable year-to-year trends at a time of year when the wolf population is most stable. The year-end minimum population count for 2022 will be released in April 2023. 

Reports of remote camera images or videos, wolf tracks, or sightings from the public are extremely helpful in locating previously undocumented wolf activity and potential new packs on the landscape. Please take photos of wolves or wolf sign (use some way to measure the size of a track) and upload them to the wolf reporting page via the following link: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/gray-wolf/observations 

Definitions: A “pack” is defined as two or more wolves traveling together in winter, and a “breeding pair” is defined as at least one adult male and one adult female wolf that raised at least two pups that survived until December 31. In any given year, the number of packs will always be greater than or equal to the number of breeding pairs. The known territories and more information for each pack can be viewed by clicking the pack name.  

Beaver Creek pack 
No activity to report. 

Butte Creek pack 
No activity to report. 

Carpenter Ridge pack 
No activity to report. 

Columbia pack 
No activity to report. 

Dirty Shirt pack 
No activity to report. 

Dominion pack
WDFW biologists captured and collared a yearling female wolf in the Dominion pack this month.

Goodman Meadows pack 
No activity to report. 

Grouse Flats pack 
No activity to report. 

Huckleberry pack 
No activity to report. 

Keller Ridge pack 
No activity to report. 

Leadpoint pack 
No activity to report. 

Lookout pack 
No activity to report. 

Loup Loup pack 
No activity to report. 

Navarre pack 
No activity to report. 

Onion Creek pack 
No activity to report. 

Salmo pack 
No activity to report. 

Shady Pass pack 
No activity to report. 

Sherman pack 
No activity to report. 

Skookum pack 
No activity to report. 

Smackout pack  
No activity to report. 

Stranger pack 
No activity to report. 

Strawberry pack 
No activity to report. 

Sullivan Creek pack 
No activity to report. 

Teanaway pack 
No activity to report. 

Togo pack 
Updates for the Togo pack were provided on June 10, June 13, and June 17. As of this update, WDFW has not documented any additional wolf depredations in the Togo pack territory since June 12. 

WDFW Wildlife Conflict Specialists recently onboarded a new WDFW-contracted range rider in the Togo pack territory. WDFW staff also collaborated with the Northeast Washington Wolf Cattle Collaborative (NEWWCC) to train participating livestock producers and range riders on the deployment of VHF ear tags for cattle and the use of telemetry equipment to locate them. 25 VHF ear tags are currently deployed on cattle in the Bulldog grazing allotment.

Touchet pack 
No activity to report. 

Tucannon pack 
A WDFW wolf biologist captured and collared a female wolf in the Tucannon pack. 

Image

Photo by WDFW

Vulcan pack 
No activity to report. 

Wedge pack 
No activity to report. 

Miscellaneous/lone wolves 
WDFW staff continued to monitor a collared dispersing male wolf (originally from the Naneum pack) and an uncollared wolf (unknown age and sex) traveling in Yakima and Klickitat counties.  

Note: The Frosty, Nason, Nc’icn, and Whitestone pack territories are within Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR) lands and are managed under tribal authority. Information regarding these packs is proprietary and reported at the discretion of the CTCR. 

Mortalities 

WDFW lethally removed a yearling female wolf on June 14 and an adult male wolf on June 17 from the Togo pack territory.

As of this update, in addition to mortalities under active investigation, WDFW has documented four wolf mortalities in 2022.  

Depredation activity 

Please report any suspected livestock depredations or the death or harassment of wolves to the WDFW Enforcement Hotline at 1-877-933-9847. 

In 2021, 76% of known wolf packs were not involved in any documented livestock depredation. 

Below is a summary of packs with documented depredation activity within the past ten months (some packs have depredation history prior to the current ten-month window; this timeframe is considered based on guidance from the wolf-livestock interaction protocol). 

Pack	Depredation date	Depredation type	Proactive non-lethals	Ten-month window	Agency lethal removal actions
Beaver Creek	9/5/21	Probable mortality of calf	No	7/5/22
Lookout	5/20/22	Confirmed mortality of two lambs	Yes	3/20/23
Smackout	8/30/21	Probable injury of two calves	Yes	6/30/22
Teanaway	11/8/21	Confirmed injury of calf	Yes	9/8/22
Togo	8/6/21	Confirmed mortality of calf (died from injuries)	Yes	6/6/22
	8/17/21	Probable injury of calf	Yes	6/17/22
	8/17/21	Confirmed injury of calf	Yes	6/17/22
	5/17/22	Confirmed mortality of calf	Yes	3/17/23
	5/18/22	Confirmed injury of calf	Yes	3/18/23
	6/8/22	Confirmed mortality of calf	Yes	4/8/23
	6/12/22	Confirmed injury of calf	Yes	4/11/23	Yearling female lethally removed 6/14/22; adult male lethally removed 6/17/22
Touchet	8/10/21	Confirmed mortality of calf	Yes	6/10/22
Columbia	8/25/21	Confirmed injury of calf	Yes	6/25/22
	9/13/21	Confirmed mortality of calf	Yes	7/13/22
	10/16/21	Confirmed injury of calf	Yes	8/16/22
	11/1/21	Confirmed injury of one calf, probable injury of two calves	Yes	9/1/22
	11/15/21	Confirmed mortality of calf	Yes	9/15/22	Adult male lethally removed 11/18/21; juvenile male lethally removed under authorized permit on 12/8/21
Vulcan	4/30/22	Confirmed mortality of calf	Yes	2/28/23